Govt considers temporarily OPEC pull-out

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Tuesday that Indonesia was considering temporarily quitting the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) amid a steady decline in the country?s oil output.

The government opened talks Monday on whether it "should continue to stay with OPEC or withdraw our membership ... until we reach a point where we deserve to rejoin that organization," he told governors and heads of regencies from all over Indonesia.

Raising output could take "one to three years," he said.

Indonesia, which joined OPEC in 1962, would not pull out until next year if the move was approved, because it has already paid dues thru 2008, according to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro.

Indonesia is the only OPEC member that is a net oil importer, as aging wells and lack of investment in new exploration has hurt production.

OPEC is an intergovernmental organization made up of 13 oil-producing countries. It was first formed in 1960 by founding members Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. (*)